Hi to kōri
by The Perfect Replica
Summary: There's beauty in war and for 15 year old Pokemon trainer Melody Kent, that's all that keeps her going. Little does the newest student at the prestigious Alaka Academy know, things are about to get a lot worse.


There's always been this prospect of good versus evil. It seems to be a tale that's been intertwined with our humanity since the very beginning of time. Light in an eternal battle against unwavering darkness and ultimately, light and all that is good is the victor. Good always wins. We watch the movies, root for the good guys and leave the theatre satisfied knowing the guy got the girl, saved the world and will be moving on to his next "action-packed adventure". The need for a cliche and happy ending is over and we step into the blank, vast unknown in which we perceive to be our reality. The reality where we never know which side is truly good and which is evil. We carry with us this false idea that good will always prevail in an effort to convince ourselves we have a fighting chance against our own demons. But in that thin line between good and evil, light and dark, black and white, is a streak of gray where the opposites merge and the truth is revealed.

* * *

Melody Kent had found solace in the sapphire tides. The comforting pool of blue that seemed to embrace the pink accented sky during the sunset was the only place she could go to ease her thoughts. The krabby and crawdaunt who are usually territorial species became familiar with the enthusiastic girl with bright silver locks and golden irises. Her eyes rivaled that of the sand that tickled her skin as she reached the shore. The pokemon decorated the sky with crystallized bubbles, painting a picture a Smeargle would worship as she walked exhaustively from the ocean she considered her second home.

"Come on Buizel, you would think that as a water-type you'd love swimming as much as I do." The girl grinned while using the towel she had tossed on a nearby tree limb to dry her hair. "Guess ya can't judge a book by it's cover."

One foot above on a larger limb sat a Buizel who rolled his eyes in response. The pokemon licked its paw one last time, leaving its orange fur glistening against the sun's light as it fought through the canopy of leaves above. The pretentious pokemon leaped from the palm tree and landed gracefully on the ground thanks to his tail serving as propellers. He grimaced at the taunting sand below, as it tainted his fur that he'd just spent the past hour perfecting.

"If you practiced more like I planned you could've just propelled yourself back home." Meldoy stated while walking to the small beach house in the distance. Buizel screeched in rebuttal, crossing his arms across his chest with a huff before waddling behind her in an attempt to attract less sand.

* * *

Things were different now-everyone knew that. Mel was only 15 years old but the time before the war, seven years ago to be exact, was still clear as day to her. Her and her father would sit on the beach for hours conversing in familial simplicity. The air would smell of her mother's poffins, a luxurious treat for both humans and pokemon alike when cooked by Mrs. Kent. Their palms would sink into the golden sand and their toes would disappear when the crystal waves reached them. Back then there were more free pokemon. To the Magikarp, Milotic, Sharpedo, Starmie, Goldeen, Horsea, Pelipper and Pidgey the beach was their playground. Now it's their sanctuary away from the tedious fighting. No one expected the alliance between Hoenn and Sinnoh in an attempt to conquer Unova and Kalos, who then joined forces to fend off the two regions. Johto and Kanto suffered the most from the sudden outbreak of war as they were forced to choose opposing sides. The two countries bound by a shared continent became the battlefield, a war zone for anyone who set foot on its soil. Alola on the other hand refused to choose a side-hoping that without their involvement the feud would die out. Now six years later, after nine total failed invasions on the islands from both sides, Alola has decided to take action.

* * *

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" The crippled man croaked.

He was dead, not actually but he may as well have been. He lay with the woven white blanket up to his graying beard. The hair on his head hadn't completely changed color and resembled that of ashes, silver highlighted the various shades of black, an unkempt mop of waves. His lips were chapped, and his olive skin pale and sickly. He stared out the window in silence and watched the waves crash onto the shore then creep back into the rest of the sea.

Melody nodded in response, unsure of what to say. The room fell silent for a moment-something they both had become used to before he spoke again.

"I looked at the sea every night Mel. Every night, hoping to see Alice on a boat, swimming back to us. I did that for about two years before I realized...she's never coming back." Melody's father struggled to lift himself up, his arms trembled as his limp legs dragged lifelessly up the bed. He let out a loud sigh as he propped himself on the bedrest, never moving his attention from the waves. "I just wanted you to be safe."

"I know Dad." She began while looking at the creases in the wooden floor hoping she could slip into the abyss of blackness between the planks that glared back at her.

He shook his head, his wavy hair stiffly swaying. "No Mel, you don't and that's what I'm afraid of. This world isn't the same. Past these waters is a war that I'm trying to protect you from. I failed your mother but I'll be damned if I lose you to-"

His rant was interrupted by the crackening creak of the door being pulled open abruptly. Her father slowly turned his head towards the door to see Melody clenching the doorknob, her knuckles pale from her grip and her face turned away from him but he could still see the single tear roll down her cheek

"No Pa, we couldn't protect Mom. Which is why I need to go to Akala Academy, train, and help end this war for good...and...make her proud." Melody stuttered, not bothering to wipe the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. "And I can take care of myself, I'm not scared of what's beyond these waters."

She didn't look back as she stepped out of the barren room, not bothering to close the door behind her while making her departure. She darted into her room and slammed the door, leaning against it. Her room was really simple, a wooden floor, sky blue walls, a desk, bed, closet and drawer filled the space. Her pokemon seemingly took great pleasure in this, a joltik hung by a string of web in the corner. The webbing nearly covered her lamp which the joltik was currently using to draw electricity. Buizel sat on her bed blowing bubbles lazily while a herdier lay sleeping peacefully at the foot of her bed, unaware of the rain of popped bubbles falling onto him.

"Well everyone, it's time to go. The ship leaves in exactly one hour!' Mel announced quickly changing her countenance and wiping her reddened cheeks with her jacket sleeve.

The pokemon instantly got into motion. Joltik swung itself using its web and landed with a small thump on Melody's head, chirping in excitement. Herdier had jumped up instantly, grabbed its pokeball off the bed in its mouth, ran over to the door, and sat obediently. Buziel looked at Mel's face and could tell something was wrong. The sassy pokemon hopped of the bed and grabbed its trainer's bag from the desk, hoping to ease her mind with a good deed. Luckily for Buziel it wasn't too heavy as he dragged it to Mel who scooped it up before engulfing her first pokemon in a tight hug and patting Herdier on the head.

"Aw, I love you guys. Let me get my ticket and then we can go."

Melody stepped past Buziel while raking her hands through her hair, careful not to disrupt the giddy bug-type pokemon. She reached for the ticket on the desk and let out a gasp.

"I thought the boarding time was at 6:00, not the actual departure!"

Melody snatched the ticket, swung her bookbag over her shoulder and ran out the door. Herdier and Buziel followed behind, the latter shaking its head in irritance. Joltik held on to the girls hair as hard as he could as Mel jumped down the stairs and darted through the house. She snatched an apple from the counter and nearly tore the front door of the house open.

"Love you Pa, please take care of yourself!" Melody yelled, her face an obvious combination of a vast number of emotions.

Running to her red bike she'd left in front of the house, Joltik used its web to close the door Mel'd left open in her rush. Buziel and Herdier jumped into the basket attached to the bike as Mel began pedaling at speeds that'd rival a rapidash in full gallop. It was the start of her new adventure and she was about to miss it.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed, I've been working on this off an on for about a year now. The plot's been fuming in my head for longer. The first Pokemon story I wrote on here I was in middle school, I'm in my first year of college now so let's see how this goes. Expect weekly updates, I'm going to try to get two chapters out every week, but I don't want to let anyone down, so like I said, we'll see. Until next time!


End file.
